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If you are of a certain age, the song Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple is now running through your head! Robert is outside working it this bad air bringing in the last of the 2016 veggies before tonight’s first hard freeze. The gardens are below that band of white smoke you can see in the photo. I have determined he is not wearing the N95 mask which was laid out for him this morning.

Photos posted on the web site explain how to rake the spaghetti squash out of the shells after roasting. It occurs to me it may be helpful to post a photo of how to more easily cut the round spaghetti squash in half. Here it is belatedly: First take off the stem with a big, heavy knife. This step will provide you with a good, flat balance point for cutting the squash in half.

The CSA Boxes will consist of a variety of winter squashes, potatoes–both the white and the sweet varieties, and green bell peppers. We will have CSA Boxes through the third week in December! Indeed, as we roll toward the Thanksgiving Holiday we have a great many things to be thankful for in our lives–just not the WNC Wildfires!

The ground is so very dry and hard due to the severe drought conditions. Robert broke his pitch fork while digging potatoes this weekend. He asked me to go by the store today and get him a replacement. I found a pretty one with a bright red handle which will make it easier to locate in the weeds of what we call a “potato patch.” It was not until carrying my purchase to the car that I noticed stares in my direction. I had to laugh out loud when I realized today is Halloween. Perhaps people were trying to figure out my “costume.” And, indeed, I have a pitch fork or two in my past!

The CSA Boxes will continue with a variety of winter squashes, potatoes–both the white and the sweet varieties, and green bell peppers. Just a reminder: Any of the winter squashes can be roasted and the pulp frozen in individual-sized servings. These are easy to defrost and then available for quick meals or pots of soup for those days when you are running short of time.

Happy Halloween!

The cold winds finally blew into WNC this weekend. We are ready for a definite season change and some cooler temperatures. We have had enough 80 degree days and the garden clean up will be much more enjoyable now. Robert has started some garden clean up activities; but at the same time, he is also still harvesting sweet potatoes. We have a very nice amount of crops in storage and feel safe in saying that we will have CSA Boxes through the month of December again. I think this makes the fourth year in a row which is quite exciting for us. We love having farm income for as many months as possible!

I snapped a photo of these three little fawns a couple of weeks ago. They are so small and may have a rough time of it this winter. Although, the weather forecast is calling for a dry winter and more mild winter so perhaps that will help them to survive.

I like to place some of the colorful squash by the outside door in the spirit of the harvest season as so many people do this time of year. However, ours keep disappearing! Robert set a trap last week and think we have caught at least one of the thieves. The orange winter squash appears to be his favorite.

Wildlife lovers should not worry. This groundhog is in a Have-A-Heart trap and will be relocated to some of our property far away from our family farm. Robert says we must eat what we kill and I am NOT interested in groundhog stew!

The peppers will no longer be fully colorful as they have been thus far. The CSA Boxes will continue with a variety of winter squashes, potatoes–both the white and the sweet varieties, and green bell peppers. Please continue paying the 2016 CSA Box price and ignore the new price quoted on the web site for the 2017 Season. I did feel I needed to change the web site price because some veggie lovers start searching out their CSA for  next spring during this time of the year.

Robert has been harvesting truckloads of spaghetti squash and other winter squashes; and still the gardens look like this. We have a really nice of crop of butternut squash and potatoes, as well.

My son sent me this timehop photo today. Looks like we still have the touch because here is a photo of some of the 2016 sweet potato crop. At ten inches in length, slices from these sweets will be large enough to get four (4) birthday candles on next March!

Our boxes will continue with the same vegetable selection as last week. We irrigated the bell peppers as recently as last week. WNC is still in a drought you understand. The eggplants are getting weary, but we will include any which are available.

 

We have no idea when we will get our first hard frost–it could be as early and October 15 or perhaps October 31 or later. When we hear it is coming, we will rush out and harvest every remaining sweet bell pepper! Some will be small and some will be green instead of colorful, but all will taste good. We intend to have all of the potatoes dug before the hard frost and all of the winter squash under cover. We are ready for a season change on this family farm. Already that is happening as the crops we found necessary to harvest on a daily basis are all gone. There comes a point in time when this makes your farmers very happy indeed.

After all of the fall crops are brought in, there is still plenty to do. It takes as long to tear the gardens down and prepare for winter as it does to set them up in the spring. Some years go more quickly depending on the weather conditions.

Don’t forget to try making some sweet potato chips out of any skinny sweet potatoes you may receive in  your box–or fat ones, for that matter. We simply peel then slice the potatoes using the Cusinart. Then we bake at 375 degrees using a convection setting until the tops or  bottoms start to brown. We find the bottoms turn first. I have seen recipes calling for oil and seasonings, but we go plain and simple with no oil using a ceramic, non-stick pan. A dash of salt before eating is our preference. I have no idea how they store as we seem to eat all we make at each meal.

Harvest Season 2016 has been  good thus far, but it is not over yet! Remember the root crops and winter squash are still coming up from the garden by the truckload. If you wish, you can roast your winter squash and freeze the flesh. The makes preparing a pot of soup a snap because the hard work is done!

We foresee having our CSA Boxes through the entire month of November. We are not willing to make predictions about the month of December yet! The CSA Boxes will continue to contain a variety of winter squash, a variety of potatoes, and colorful sweet bell peppers.

The spaghetti squash winter squash are going to be the most plentiful again this year. I am always trying to find new ways of eating spaghetti. This particular day I topped mine with sauteed peppers and fried eggs. I added a couple of slices of bacon and it was all delicious!

We have a variety of potatoes coming in and they will be making an appearance in your CSA Box: white, Yukon Gold, russet, fingerlings. This season the potatoes are beautiful and we are not seeing as many strange shapes this season as last; however, we did find this one Google-Eyed Duck!

We also have sweet potatoes. There are five different types as illustrated below. They are all sweet potatoes–not yams. Basically, yams have more starch and are drier.  Yams are usually found in South America and have white flesh. Yams are rarely found in the United States. Sweet potatoes can be red, purple, white, or orange and are much higher in beta carotene. If you want to know more, Google or Siri can tell you all about these two veggies.

If you have been to the web site recently, you may have noticed that we are increasing the base price of our CSA Boxes to $50 for the 2017 Harvest Season. We are doing so after much careful consideration. Our last increase in the base price was in 2008. Most all of our production inputs have increased and we feel it is time to raise the price. We have not yet asked about your participation in our CSA for the 2017 Season—we want to finish the 2016 Season before we do that! However, if you have thoughts one way or the other, we are always ready to listen.

Expect to find a variety of winter squash, a variety of potatoes, and colorful sweet bell peppers in your veggie boxes. We will continue with the CSA Boxes as long as we feel we are able to provide a respectable amount of seasonal, root vegetables. We will certainly make it through the entire month of November. We will decide about December when the time comes.

Through the miracle of Face Book, I was recently introduced to this product. I would like two please. I can lift real weights to strengthen my arm muscles!

 

This season we have really sweet winter squash. We expect those 90 degree days of sunshine has had something to do with it. Even the remaining summer squash have sweetened up. The summer squash are not going to be in the boxes on a regular basis as they are hit and miss this time of the year. The plants are simply wearing out and the worms have discovered how tasty they are and tend to move in and make themselves at home. If you are lucky enough to find patty pans in your box, consider slicing and layering with red onions, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. Bake at 350 degrees until fork tender. This is a quick and easy and tasty dish; or win-win-win!

Stuff those winter squash!  Here is what I do with acorn winter squash in particular. Cut in half one to two acorn squash and scoop out the seeds. Place cut side down and bake at 400 for 45 minutes. At the same time bake the following ingredients in a covered dish. This will be the stuffing: 4 apples, 6 Tbs butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup Craisins, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cinnamon. While the above is baking, toast 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts. Watch carefully, so they do not burn! When cooked, fill the squash cavity with the apples and sprinkle the toasted walnuts on top. Delicious as a meal or as a side dish!

For those “eating from the box” expect a variety of winter squash, potatoes, eggplant, colorful sweet bell peppers, and the last of the okra, tomatoes, late cukes (perhaps ugly, but still tasty), summer squash, zucchini when available.

Here is the variety of winter squash we are bringing  up from the fall gardens. Use a big knife to make cutting easier. Look under the recipes under “W” for Winter Squash!

We are happy the tropical storms are passing us by here in WNC. Our thoughts and prayers are with family and friends in the storm’s path today.

We are harvesting some beautiful green beans and yellow beans from the third wave of plantings. We are also seeing some of best winter squash ever. We are growing several varieties so there will be a parade over the next several weeks! If you have never tried the hard-shelled winter squash before, it is time to step out of your comfort zone, get a big knife, and dive in! Look in the recipes under “W” for Winter Squash for ideas on how to prepare these wonderful veggies.

I was once asked if I grew any “lampshade” vegetables. I knew the individual meant “nightshade” vegetables and simply misspoke. I did keep a straight face as I gently corrected the terminology. However, I cannot resist putting a lampshade atop an eggplant and taking a photo!

Here is another quick recipe idea for those eggplants you are seeing in your CSA Boxes.

Wash. Slice. Sprinkle with seasoning, bread crumbs & dollop of butter on each slice. Roast in the oven at 350 degrees about 40 minutes until tender. Remove and add a bit of spaghetti sauce to each slice. Put back in oven for about 10 min. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese which will melt. Eat! EASY!!! They are even good cold and they will freeze well either as slices or stacks.

In your box look for winter squash, potatoes, beans, okra, eggplant, colorful sweet bell peppers, tomatoes, cukes along with the last of summer squash, zucchini and cabbages as available. Season Change!

 

It is our opinion that one can never get enough sweet bell peppers—green turning colorful. They can be eaten raw as a snack providing Vitamins A and C for only 25 calories per cup! Or they can be sautéed or roasted to increase the sweetness and served as a side dish or added to soups, stews, pizza, and more. After being cooked, they freeze well in case you are wondering.

There are two vegetables which we recommend never putting into the refrigerator. One is the tomatoes which you are now seeing in the CSA Boxes. Storing tomatoes in the refrigerator makes them mealy. And the second is potatoes. Refrigeration turns the starches in potatoes to sugar more rapidly which can affect the flavor, texture, and the way they cook. Potatoes like cool, not cold temperatures. They do best at around 45 degrees F, which is about 10 degrees warmer than the average refrigerator. Try keeping them in a paper bag in the pantry. A paper bag is more breathable then plastic so potatoes will not rot as easily.

Shred your cabbage in advance and store in a bag so you can make a quick salad.  Add avocado, tomatoes, cukes, feta cheese, etc. Not bad for a five minute lunch!

Last season, blight took our first waves of tomatoes. This season it was the beans. Interesting how things change from year to year. We are seeing blossoms on the next wave of beans, so keep your fingers crossed!

Look for these veggies in the boxes this week: white potatoes, slicer tomatoes and maybe some salad tomatoes, the last of the patty pan squash and zucchini, carrots, cabbage, cukes—either the ones you have been getting or the extra-long, sweet burpless variety, eggplant in a mix of traditional and Japanese, sweet bell peppers, and perhaps some okra.

I love roasted eggplant! Have you tried it yet?

I keep saying this is an easy recipe. Here is the proof! My three (and one-half) year old Grandson loves to cook. I will credit his parents for this developing skill. Have you ever seen the “Cooking With Trent” videos?

He did the washing. I did the slicing. He did the layering and stacking. I drizzled the EVOO and I ground the sea salt and peppercorns. Meals ready for the oven and two nights worth of food, I trust. We have other things to do besides cook; then again, hungry boys must eat. I was slicing pepper rounds for a topping in this photo. Trent was patient–for a chef!